


Moving moves the heart.

by IoccasionallyWriteStories



Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Gen, M/M, Modern AU, Modern Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-12
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2020-01-12 07:41:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18442064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IoccasionallyWriteStories/pseuds/IoccasionallyWriteStories
Summary: It's the first time he takes the train at half past seven after Albert's departure. In vain he stares out of the window, trying to find another source of enjoyment during the ride to school. He finds none.





	Moving moves the heart.

**Author's Note:**

> This was a tumblr request

It's the first time he takes the train at half past seven after Albert's departure. In vain he stares out of the window, trying to find another source of enjoyment during the ride to school. He finds none.

Albert's empty desk is another bleak reminder of the fact that his friend has moved overseas. Between English and math, he thinks of Albert. Every time he does so, his gaze travels back to the empty desk, completely void of one particular redhead. More than once, Race had joked about the colour, comparing Albert to an exceptionally ugly garden gnome. It had always been answered by an eye roll and Albert giving him a noogie, proclaiming that if he was a gnome, Race would be a money stealing mountain goblin.

The hours drag on and his other friends leave him alone. They're probably thinking they're doing something good by giving him the space to think, but it makes his loneliness sting even more. He doesn't want to think, there's only one subject that runs around his mind. Nothing else works for him any more, studying becomes harder than it already was.

Once at home, he ignores his mother's call for dinner and falls down unto his bed. He has no energy to even cry. Out of his bedside closet, he takes their friendship diary. Every week they would swap it between them, filling it with everything the both of them had deemed important. This had varied from fragments about their first sleepover at age six to the first concert they had gone to at age sixteen, just a few months ago.

Before leaving Albert had pressed it into Race's arms without an explanation. "Don't open it yet", he has said and now, Race lets his fingers trail over the last pages Albert had decorated. They're filled with anecdotes spanning over the years of their shared friendship.

Unwilling to read those pages another time, because he's unprepared to face that kind of emotional distress, Race flips through the pages, in search of the earlier ones. By coincidence, he stumbles upon a picture of a teenage Albert. The boy had the wide eyes of a child and although they had become more and more tired over the years, there was always a brilliant brightness in them.

Sighing, he closes the book again and after letting it rest on his chest for a while, he puts it away. This time further than before, so he won't be as tempted to look through it again. Reaching out for his phone, he checks whether he's received any messages from Albert.

Nothing. Nothing at all. Since his departure right before the break, Albert has been radio silent, despite their promise to keep in touch. It's not really surprising, people split up all the time. But it still stings to know that Albert hadn't even send him an "arrived safely" message.

He tries to fall asleep, but his mind won't let him, so he slips out of his bed and walks to his window. After sliding it open, he climbs down and travels towards the skate park.

Like the last time he came here with Al, the moon is full and bright. They had been laying on the rough gravel, bodies loosely draped over each other as Albert had broken the silence. "I don't want to go with my dad. I'd rather die than be alone with that man."

"If you die, I'm gonna kill you", Race had whispered back, tired but still fierce. "There are plenty of people out there who love you, you know." Albert had snorted at that. "Yeah, like who?"

"Like me", Race answered without a beat of hesitation. For all their joking and laughter, they too had their serious moments and they were both able to recognise them. "I love you Al." Albert had gone quiet after that, but after seeing Race's worried expression, he had smiled. "Love ya too, gremlin. There's no way I'd leave ya, you don't even know how to fold your clothes."

Race returns to that place every time his head gets too full with emptiness, often wondering why he hasn't heard from Albert. He misses him like crazy, not one of his other friends can fill in the gap that his best friend left. By being with all of them at once, he manages to stave off the mundane loneliness, the one that plagues him during the school hours.

But after school, when he is supposed to fill his thoughts with lessons and homework, his mind always wanders off. Tons of letters get written on that desolate skate court, filled with doubts, declarations of hope and friendship and bitter, bitter anger. Not even one of them ever gets posted, Race is too afraid to find out the answers to the questions that burn within his mind.

Does Albert think of him as well? he often wonders. Does he sometimes stop right in his tracks, looking around to find Race? Does he make jokes and feel empty when people laugh, but he doesn't hear Race's familiar ugly snort? Does he talk to his new friends to forget about Race?

When he isn't wallowing in selfish anguish, he wonders if Albert is doing alright. His father had said that they had to move for his work, but Race doesn't really believe that. He had overheard the man telling Albert that he'd understand one day, but he doesn't doubt that the man didn't think or talk to Albert at all when taking that decision.

He doesn't know more about Albert's whereabouts than 'he's in Germany' and yet his stupid, naive mind tells him to save up and go look for him. After all, there's no way that somebody could actually divide them, the book containing their story isn't one that is easily ripped apart. Their lives are intertwined and if Albert is able to wait, then Race will personally come and try to find him.

At the age of twenty-eight, Race has already stopped trying. Germany is a nice country, the size of the plates can keep up with the American ones (unlike the French, do those guys even eat?) and he thinks the language sounds funky. It's weird to see the people around him settle down as his heart is still set upon a boy that seems to have disappeared from the face of the earth.

He is in Germany once more, this time for his job instead of a personal quest. Still at the airport, he awaits his luggage as a man bumps into him. Because of his fatigued state of mind, he lets out a string of Italian curses, followed by a graceful "Stai attento stronzo!" and the guy bites back in German before Race can even register that he just cussed out a complete stranger. "Hey Ficker, wie wäre es, wenn Sie aus dem Weg gehen?"

The man storms away and Race snaps out of his tired slump when the memory of that familiar face slams into him. Albert still wears his snapbacks, like the absolute loser he is. Abandoning his luggage, he runs after him. "Hey you garden gnome!" he calls out and he beams when he sees the surprised look on Albert's face as the guy turns around. "German makes you sound even more stupid!"

"I've gotta compete with your half braincel somehow", Albert grins and finally, finally things are okay.

**Author's Note:**

> uwu thanks for reading, u can find me on tumblr where I'm rivertellstories


End file.
